Vague Hague

Updated Oct. 7, 1998 12:01 a.m. ET

British Conservative Party leader William Hague kicks off this week's party conference in Bournemouth with the results of an intra-party poll showing resounding support for his policy of ruling out British membership in the Economic and Monetary Union for at least the lifetime of the next British parliament.

But Mr. Hague's hopes that this "referendum" would silence the pro-European critics within his own party have already been dashed. Former Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine called the vote "a...